A THREAT to kick foreign Muslim women out of Britain if their English is not good enough plunged David Cameron into a bitter row yesterday.

Conservative former minister Baroness Warsi, who was the first Muslim to serve in Cabinet, branded his approach "lazy and misguided".

The Prime Minister announced a £20 million fund for English language teaching in England for immigrants, for which the priority will be Muslim communities and women.

He said too many Muslim women were isolated by their lack of English - which could also make people "more susceptible" to fanatics' extremist messages.

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In a particularly controversial statement, he suggested children were more at risk of falling into the clutches of dangerous radicals if their mothers' lack of English or engagement in society made it hard for them to discuss issues at home.

The evidence is that there are some 40,000 women in our country who really don't speak any English at all

Prime Minister David Cameron

Language skills should in future be a factor in getting permission to settle permanently in the UK, he said.

The PM also repeated the promise the Conservatives made last year to review of role of religious councils including Sharia Muslim courts in Britain, though Downing Street was forced to admit it had yet to appoint an inquiry chief.

Mr Cameron called overall for an end to "passive tolerance" of separate communities which he said fostered discrimination and he said it was not acceptable that women in parts of the UK could not go out without a male relative, and that some schools and other organisations kept men and women apart at meetings.

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Baroness Warsi described the plans as 'lazy and misguided'

His aim was to counter extremism and foster better community integration and cohesion, he said.

He claimed: "The evidence is that there are some 40,000 women in our country who really don't speak any English at all and, perhaps altogether, some 190,000 with very poor English.

"I think it's quite right to say to people who come to our country that there are many rights that you have here - it's a fantastic country to live in - but there are also obligations that we should put on people who come to our country.

"And chief amongst them should be obligations to learn English because then you can integrate, you can take advantage of the opportunities here and you can help us to build the strong country that we want."

The Government already requires people seeking visas to come as wives or husbands to have English at the level of a British child starting school, and after five years to have improved if they want indefinite leave to remain and citizenship.

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Warsi was the first Muslim to serve in cabinet

Mr Cameron now proposes a test after two-and-a-half years here where people would have to show they were improving their English "and if they don't do that they can't be guaranteed to be able to go to the full stage and retain their visa".

It is unclear how this would be tested, what happens if a man refuses to let his wife take classes, or whether the UK would in reality deport a woman with a British husband and children because her English was too poor.

"There will be a number of factors," said Mr Cameron's official spokeswoman.

Lady Warsi welcomed the cash for language teaching which she said partly righted the mistake the Government made when she was a minister by cutting funding.

But she condemned how it was announced, telling BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "This lazy and misguided linking, and what I saw once again as stereotyping of British Muslim communities, took away from a positive announcement.

"My parents came to this country with very little English - my mum's English still isn't great, even though she has been to English language classes.

"They didn't necessarily identify with a Western culture but they absolutely had the right values to bring up five girls, make sure that they were educated and made a contribution to British society.

"So I think it is lazy and sloppy when we start making policies based on stereotypes which badly stigmatise communities."

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "David Cameron and his Conservative Government are once again using British Muslims as a political football to score cheap points to appear tough.

"There are three million Muslims in this country and the PM chooses to focus on a very small minority of extremists when clearly the majority of British Muslims reject extremism. The best way to confront (the ideology of hatred) is to build support within Muslims and support the work done across the country, and not lashing out and denigrating Muslims.

"The irony of the Prime Minister calling for more resources to help migrants learn English when his Government cut the funding for English classes in 2011 has not been lost on many people."

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David Cameron said there were 40,000 women in the UK who cannot speak any English

Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "The PM is absolutely right in wanting English to be taught more widely and mosques and Muslim civil society would be eager to play their part by hosting English language classes, as many mosques do.

"But his aim to have English more widely spoken and for better integration falls at the first hurdle if he is to link it to security and single out Muslim women to illustrate his point."

At an English class at a women's centre in Leeds, Mr Cameron was told by pupils how learning English had boosted their confidence and helped them communicate with institutions including their children's schools.

He also visited a Leeds mosque where imam Qari Asim spearheads work to stop young people being radicalised on the internet. Mr Asim warned afterwards that linking all Muslim-related policies to counter-terrorism could be "alienating and counterproductive".